12-23-13 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE:

We’re more than the Common Core

We wake up early, every morning, ready to teach, and we look forward to opening our classroom door. We quietly ponder which student we’ll reach, because we’re more than the Common Core. We spend countless hours planning lessons ahead, and we genuinely want our students to soar. We reflect on each school day before resting in […]

1 by Angel Cintron Jr. / 3min 

This Is the Common Core You Support?

You have plenty of Urban Legend and baseless conspiracy theories swirling around the Common Core, and none of that really serves anyone well. But you also have evidence (and from what I can tell, that doesn’t carry much weight). So for all those who support the Common Core, and tend to ignore the evidence-based arguments […]

7 by plthomasedd / 1h

12-22-13 @ The Chalk Face

@ THE CHALK FACE: I Don’t Need Standards To Teach, I Need StudentsI Don\’t Need Standards To Teach, I Need Students. via I Don’t Need Standards To Teach, I Need Students.by plthomasedd / 1min hide  //  saveTeachers of Conscience and the Common Core Scylla and CharybdisTeachers of Conscience and the Common Core Scylla and Charybdis. via Teachers of Conscience and the Common Core Scylla and Charybdi

by mike simpson / 9h 

12-23-13 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School:

NYCDOE Chancellor Announcement Not Coming This Week - But De Blasio Did Appoint Former Goldman Sachs Employee To Administration Post

De Blasio: "Very likely" to announce Chancellor next week. "There will be some interim leadership... until new chancellor fully on board"— Beth Fertig (@bethfertig) December 23, 2013No chancellor announcement, but de Blasio did appoint a former employee of Goldman Sachs, the Vampire Squid of Wall Street, as a deputy mayor for urban affairs:For all his campaign bluster against t

by reality-based edu... / 24min 

NY Times: APPR Teacher Evaluation System Complete Mess In NYC

Left another tweet for Sheriff Andy, this time with a link to a NY Times story chronicling the mess that it is his APPR teacher evaluation system:@NYGovCuomo APPR eval system total madness. Time to change it or vote out pols who support it! http://t.co/BsOWZhNoeY— realitybasededucator (@perdidostschool) December 23, 2013

by reality-based edu... / 12min 

A Christmas Wish

It's a traveling day for me, won't be back on the Internets until later this afternoon, but I wanted to leave this Christmas wish, via Leonie Haimson, before I head out on the road:"@McFiredogg: All I want for Xmas a School Chancellor who actually respects teachers. What's up, Mayor Elect DeBlasio?" & respects parents!— leonie haimson (@leoniehaimson) December 23, 2013

by reality-based edu... / 1h hide  //  save

Andrew Cuomo: APPR Teacher Evaluation System "Costless Way To Improve Schools"

Responding to the Newsday article that reported Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch told a middle school principal from Brooklyn that Andrew Cuomo screamed at her over the state's education reform agenda implementation, saying if she didn't get it done he'd get some guys to make sure she got it done (a story that Tisch denied happened), Carol Burris tweeted the following:@NYSchoolSupts @Newsday I was

by reality-based edu... / 1h 

12-22-13 Perdido Street School

Perdido Street School: Time To Make Andrew Cuomo Pay Politically For His Teacher Evaluation ReformsCarol Burris in the Times Union on how to reduce the damage over-testing is doing to students, teachers and schools:The real solutions are simple but courageous. First, follow the lead of California and do not engage in grade 3-8 testing this year. Have early childhood experts review the standards an

by mike simpson / 9h

12-23-13 the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University)

the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University):

Faces of Free Speech

The controversy over comments by Phil Robertson in GQ has become a public (although jumbled) debate about free speech. Matt Bruenig has done a valuable job highlighting how that public discourse has ignored a much more complicated admission, by comparing how the Right has responded to Robertson as that contrasts with the Right’s reaction to the 2003 Dixie Chicks controversy: It is not mysterious w

by plthomasedd / 4min 

This Is the Common Core You Support?

This Is the Common Core You Support?.

1 by plthomasedd / 1h 

12-22-13 the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness

the becoming radical | A Place for a Pedagogy of Kindness (the public and scholarly writing by P. L. Thomas, Furman University): Teachers of Conscience and the Common Core Scylla and CharybdisIn our popular discourse, we are prone to say we are caught between a rock and a hard place, a veiled allusion to Homer’s Scylla and Charybdis. For K-12 public school teachers over the past thirty years, our 

by mike simpson / 9h 

UPDATE: CASU | CALIFORNIA STUDENT UNION : Why We Strike

CASU | CALIFORNIA STUDENT UNION : : Our struggles are one. Our victories are one. *** This site is currently under construction. Please bare with us as we update resources, links, etc. Thank you. ***:

How Did Quebec Students Mobilize Hundreds of Thousands for Strike?

Posted on May 10, 2012 by CASTUDENTUNION • Leave a comment

Three students discuss the role of direct democracy and political demands in building a massive movement. More news stories athttp://therealnews.com

Save CCSF Update

Report from CCSF Delegation to Washington D.C. Reposted from SaveCCSF.org “The CCSF delegation of 6 faculty and 7 students went to Washington, D.C. from December 11th – December 14th in order to present oral third party comments at the Department of Education hearing on the ACCJC. This hearing was part of a process whereby the […]

by castudentunion / 12min 

Sign the Petition to Drop the Sanctions Against UCSD Students!

SIGN THE PETITION! Tell Chancellor Khosla, Assistant Vice Chancellor Gary Ratcliff and the Office of Student Conduct to drop the sanctions brought up against students for peaceful protest and stop trying to intimidate students from organizing at the University of California San Diego! From the UCSD Strike Committee: “We are a coalition of students formed […]

by castudentunion / 5h 

YESTERDAY

Featured Resource: Why We Strike

Why We Strike: UC Lied to You A zine produced by the Autonomous Students group at UC Santa Cruz. Topics include a debrief of the November 20th, 2013 AFSCME/UAW strike, how strikes effect students, letters from campus groups M.E.Ch.A and Students Informing Now (S.I.N.), and awesome art from students on campus. For more resources, check […]

by castudentunion / 6h 

Technology Trends for Teachers to Try in 2014 - High School Notes (usnews.com)

Technology Trends for Teachers to Try in 2014 - High School Notes (usnews.com):

Technology Trends for Teachers to Try in 2014

By KELSEY SHEEHY

December 23, 2013 RSS Feed Print

New 3-D printers are just one tech tool teachers should try in the new year.

Students learn best when they're invested in the material, but getting teens to that point isn't easy.

"The student comes in, puts their head down and goes to sleep or just ignores what's going on in the class. How do we stop that?" says Rich Lamb, an assistant professor in the College of Education at Washington State University.

One way: technology.

Tools such as tablets, videos and 3-D printing can make otherwise flat lessons come to life, says Lamb, who previously taught science at high schools in Virginia and North Carolina.

Essentially, technology hooks students, he says.

"Once you can get the student hooked, then they're open to being taught," Lamb says.

There is no shortage of tools to help teachers engage students. Here are three tech trends teachers can try in 2014.

1. 3-D printing: Once considered a far-fetched technology, 3-D printers are about to go mainstream.

"I've seen them used in elementary schools all the way up to high schools," says Lamb, who researches educational technology.

Students can work in groups to develop and test a solution to a given problem, with an actual product coming out at the end. Using the high-tech printers, teens can build complex gear mechanisms, conduits for water and even water filtration systems, Lamb says.

[Read more about technology in the classroom.]

Lessons built around 3-D printers hone 21st century skills such as collaboration and problem-solving. Prices for the printers can range from several hundred to several thousand dollars, but Lamb points out that this is relatively affordable when compared to other teaching materials.

2. Personalized lessons: Students learn in different ways. Some soak up text like a sponge, while others best grasp a concept when they see it 

Why Teachers of Color Quit - Amanda Machado - The Atlantic

Why Teachers of Color Quit - Amanda Machado - The Atlantic:

Why Teachers of Color Quit

Low pay and high stress drive black and Latino teachers to leave the profession at higher rates than their white peers.

J Pat Carter/AP Photo

I became a teacher because of where I came from.

I grew up in a middle-class family with immigrant parents from Mexico and Ecuador. When I was four years old, we moved to a predominantly white, upper-class neighborhood in Tampa, Florida to ensure that my siblings and I would attend the best public schools in my district. While studying at these schools gave us great educational opportunities, it also exposed us to significant racism. Teachers placed my brother in English as a Second Language classes, even though he was born in the United States and a native English speaker. Teachers hesitated to place me in advanced classes, stating that “Latinos rarely do well in them” and laughed at my goal of going to Brown University. With little support from teachers and with my family’s inexperience with the public education system in this country, I struggled to find the resources I needed to get admitted into top-tier schools. Experiencing these educational inequalities firsthand made me want to solve them. I decided to join Teach for America.

I joined the Bay Area corps after graduating Brown in 2010 and taught ninth-grade English at a charter school outside Oakland. Yet after finishing my two-year commitment, I realized that though my background may have brought me to teaching in the first place, it now had become one of the factors that drove me to quit the profession.

Several recent articles—“Why Do Teachers Quit?,” “I Quit for Teach for America,”  “I Almost Quit Teach for America”—raised reasonable concerns about the difficulties of teaching in predominantly black and Latino, low-income 

Meet Micah Ali: Compton's foot soldier for Universal PreK | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC

Meet Micah Ali: Compton's foot soldier for Universal PreK | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC:

Meet Micah Ali: Compton's foot soldier for Universal PreK

Deepa Fernandes | December 23rd, 2013, 6:00am

SLIDESHOW

1 of 2

Deepa Fernandes / KPCC

Micah Ali is a strong advocate for quality preschool education for his district's 3-5 year olds. His car is his "office" as he zips around Compton and Los Angeles to get resources and support for preschool children.

It was midday at McKinley Elementary School and a changing of the guards was taking place. One group of parents was picking up kids after their morning at preschool, and another group  arrived to drop off theirs for the afternoon class. This is one of 19 free programs for 3- to 5-year-olds at Compton public schools.

And right in the middle of it all was the head of the school board, Micah Ali.

Dressed in a soft blue waistcoat, stylish mauve shirt and jeans, Ali greeted parents with an outstretched hand and broad smile. The children got an affectionate hair ruffle.

“I’m very much interested in hearing any challenges, impediments, concerns, or hurdles that parents may have so I can address them on their behalf,” he said. “These folk are my boss. I answer to them.”

It sounds like politician speak, but Ali says he regularly visits schools at pick up time so he can meet parents and office staff, teachers and the principal at McKinley Elementary.

Born and raised in Compton, Ali has spent six years on the school board – a job that 

NYC Educator: Our Message to the President

NYC Educator: Our Message to the President:

Our Message to the President

When Barack Obama ran for re-election, several groups told him they needed concessions before supporting him. LGBT groups managed to extract support for gay marriage. Immigrant groups managed to extract support for their causes.

As for us, we supported Barack Obama unconditionally. The NEA and the AFT couldn't wait to get on Barack's bandwagon. I believe I read there was extensive polling to support AFT's decision. As usual, no one asked me, anyone in my very large school, or anyone I know. Perhaps they did a poll of Unity chapter leaders who knew the correct answers in advance. Who knows?

But the point is not how the poll was conducted. The point is we asked no concessions whatsoever. By doing so, we gave Barack Obama the message that he could count on us no matter what he did. Impose nonsensical standards? Fine. Fire teachers based on junk science? Great. Close schools with high concentrations of high-needs students? Dandy. Blame teachers for closings? Swell.

You get the idea. There are arguments in favor of actions like these. Romney was Obama's opponent, and he's even worse. In fact, the election was close enough that Romney had a chance of winning. Maybe. But Barack Obama has taken GW Bush's educational policies, put them on steroids, and imposed them on the entire country.

Barack Obama broke his promise to pass the Employee Free Choice Act. In fact, he never even attempted to support it, as far as I can tell. Thus, the possibility of increased unionization for Americans has not been realized. He never found those comfortable shoes he promised to look 

The Educated Reporter: Remediation: New Strategies to Help Students Catch Up and Complete College

The Educated Reporter: Remediation: New Strategies to Help Students Catch Up and Complete College:

THE EDUCATED REPORTER

COMMENTARY ON EDUCATION COVERAGE, WRITING AND A FEW OTHER THINGS

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013

Remediation: New Strategies to Help Students Catch Up and Complete College

President Obama is planning a summit with higher education leaders to discuss college success for lower-income students early next year (the original meeting date was canceled following the death of Nelson Mandela). This week we're catching up with some of the top sessions from EWA's 66th National Seminar, and given the accelerating focus on outcomes for postsecondary students, this guest post from Laura Insensee of Houston Public Radio particularly timely.Stream any session from National Seminar in your browser, or subscribe via RSS or iTunes. For more on college completion, visit EWA's Story Starters online resource. 

Remediation is the “black hole” of higher education, as moderator Paul Fain, a senior reporter with Insider Higher Ed, put it. Most students get placed in at least one remedial course to catch up on content. That’s more than half of the students at community colleges and about 20 percent of students enrolled in four-year 

Bumpy Start for Teacher Evaluation Program in New York Schools - NYTimes.com

Bumpy Start for Teacher Evaluation Program in New York Schools - NYTimes.com:

Bumpy Start for Teacher Evaluation Program in New York Schools

Ángel Franco/The New York Times

Nina Phillips, upper right, being evaluated last month as she taught at P.S. 295 in Brooklyn.

By AL BAKER

Published: December 22, 2013

Connect With NYTMetroOver the 24 years Lily Din Woo has been the principal of Public School 130 in Lower Manhattan, her typical day changed very little: sick or misbehaving students, budgets, curriculum woes and meetings with parents, many of whom do not speak English.

Follow us on Twitterand like us onFacebook for news and conversation.

This year, however, she and the assistant principal are spending parts of each day darting in and out of classrooms, clipboards and iPads in hand, as they go over checklists for good teaching. Is the lesson clear? Is the classroom organized?

All told, they will spend over two of the 40 weeks of the school year on such visits. The hours spent sitting with teachers to discuss each encounter and entering their marks into the school system’s temperamental teacher-grading database easily stretch to more than a month.

“At some point, something is just going to give,” Ms. Woo, 62, said. “The observations are important, but so is counseling a troubled child or a family struggling to help their 

The Importance of Common Core for Nationally-pervasive Ed Reform | deutsch29

The Importance of Common Core for Nationally-pervasive Ed Reform | deutsch29:

The Importance of Common Core for Nationally-pervasive Ed Reform

December 22, 2013

A great error made by those combating corporate reform is in viewing the reforms as separate and distinct one from another. I have noticed as much in discussions about the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).  However, the “standards” were not intended to “stand” without the entire spectrum of reforms.

In fact, the power of a truly national privatization of public education depends upon CCSS.

CCSS is the cornerstone of unprecedented, national-level corporate reform that has been in the making for several years.

Allow me to explain.

2009: An Important Year for National-scale Reform

Before the “national standards” were written, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten wholeheartedly endorsed them.

That was February 2009, the same month that Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 and approved $100 billion in federal funding for education.

In April 2009, the Broad Foundation published a report predicting a spectrum of reforms that Americans could expect by January 2012. Among them, CCSS:

First, and most fundamental, by January 2012 Americans should expect to see a common core of fewer, clearer, higher, evidence-based, college- and career-ready 

3 Questions To Guide Your Vision | Connected Principals

3 Questions To Guide Your Vision | Connected Principals:

3 Questions To Guide Your Vision

by George Couros • December 23, 2013 • 0 Comments

There are a lot of people in newly formed leadership positions where they have a blank slate to create something new in their work.  One of the things that I remember one of my mentors asking me when I first started as a principal was, “What will be your fingerprint on this school after you leave?”

I have always thought about that statement in my career and bring it to everything that I do.  One of the things that I feel is important in a leadership position is that you build capacity and create an environment that eventually will not need you.   Yet there are many people in administrative positions that will be best remembered because they brought food to workshops.  That’s great, but it’s not enough.

I think that great work and learning, doesn’t start with answers, but always questions.  Here are some of the things that help guide my career.

What is the vision for the work that I am doing and how am I making that vision come true? 

If I meet you, and you are in a leadership position, this is a question that I am asking you right away.  We can easily say things like “I want students to be engaged”, but what does that really mean and look like.  Does it mean that they are engaged in curriculum that they sometimes wouldn’t care about otherwise?  Even when you talk about the notion of “vision”, it is about 

Times Я Tough | EduShyster

Times Я Tough | EduShyster:

Times Я Tough

 The man to whom EduShyster is *technically* married makes a desperate plea for your help this holiday season

Littlest Bolshevik here: AKA the man to whom EduShyster is *technically* married. While EduShyster is otherwise engaged—in a senseless Twitter battle with a singing ed reformer—I’ve seized the means of communication in order to deliver this urgent appeal. Sadly I have been too busy this holiday season fomenting worker revolt at Walmart and among fast food workers to do much Christmas shopping (yes, we celebrate Christmas). Which is where you come in…

Now I know you wouldn’t want EduShyster to pad out to the Christmas tree first thing Wednesday morning and find nothing but unsold socialist newspapers and a bullhorn with dead batteries waiting beneath the boughs. To that end I am hoping we might do this collectively in the spirit of the most redistributive of all of the holidays. Below you will find EduShyster’s Christmas wish list with a line through all of the items that I’ve already purchased. Anything that you can do to make her eyes shine with wonder will be much appreciated. In other words, just